Alcohol's impact on fine motor skills: Insights from minimally invasive surgical simulation

TL;DR

This study shows that alcohol impairs fine motor skills in surgical simulations, suggesting a need for clearer guidelines on alcohol use in healthcare.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on alcohol's impact on surgical fine motor skills in a non-surgical population.

Findings

Higher BAC levels correlate with worse surgical simulation performance (p = 0.023).

The highest BAC group performed significantly worse than the zero BAC group (p = 0.002).

No significant difference in error rates across BAC groups (p = 0.597).

Abstract

Alcohol misuse among medical professionals poses a significant concern, and there is a lack of clarity in (inter)national guidelines regarding alcohol use during work. Moreover, there exists an insufficient body of research on the specific impact of alcohol on fine motor skills within the medical sector, specifically surgery. This study aims to investigate the impact of alcohol on fine motor skills in a minimally invasive surgical setting.

A cross-sectional study was conducted at Lowland Science on August 19th, 20th, and 21st, 2022, during the Lowlands music festival in Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands. Participants were divided into five groups based on measured alcohol consumption. Exclusion criteria included drug use, prior surgical experience, being underage, and previous participation. The main outcomes were the number of correctly transferred rings during the PEG transfer task and the number of errors. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was measured using a breathalyser.

A total of 1056 participants were included in the study. The results indicated an inverse relationship between BAC levels and surgical performance, with higher alcohol levels associated with a decrease in performance (p = 0.023). However, there was no significant difference in the number of errors among the five groups (p = 0.597). The group with the highest alcohol consumption (BAC >0.08 %) exhibited significantly worse performance compared to the group with a BAC of 0.0 % (p = 0.002).

This study uncovers a negative impact of increased alcohol intake on fine motor skills in a minimally invasive surgery simulation exercise. While there was no effect on the occurrence of errors. Professional medical organizations should reconsider and explicate their position on alcohol use in (surgical) healthcare.

•As The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) rises, fine motor skills in surgical simulation exhibits a steady deterioration.•This inverse relationship was seen in a diverse non-surgical population, including individuals of all ages and genders.•The need for a critical evaluation of (inter)national guidelines concerning alcohol consumption in the context of (surgical) healthcare.

As The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) rises, fine motor skills in surgical simulation exhibits a steady deterioration.

This inverse relationship was seen in a diverse non-surgical population, including individuals of all ages and genders.

The need for a critical evaluation of (inter)national guidelines concerning alcohol consumption in the context of (surgical) healthcare.

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